SK Hynix buys Italian flash expertise, forms R&D center

LONDON – Memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix Inc. (Seoul, South Korea) has announced it has acquired Ideaflash Srl (Milan, Italy) and turned the company into an R&D center. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Ideaflash comprises about 50 flash memory R&D experts who were formerly employed by STMicroelectronics NV and Spansion. The company was formed in 2007 by Carla Golla and Marco Roveda as the security and advanced technology division of Spansion Inc. In January 2010 the company was acquired by Elpida Memory Inc. but the holding was bought back by Golla and Roveda in December 2011.

Golla, previously CEO of Ideaflash, has been appointed head of SK Hynix Italy Srl which was formally opened on Monday (June 11).

"The Italy R&D Center will closely cooperate with the headquarters in Korea and be operated as a core of NAND flash development activity," said Oh Chul Kwon, president and CEO of SK Hynix, in a statement.